Hope this isn’t a repost, but I just read this article saying the man who caused the Glendale crash was not attempting suicide as first thought. He was trying to get attention from his wife! He delibrately doused the truck with gasoline to increase the trajedy. Here’s the text of the article… I think it’s safe to say this guy will fry, or at least spend the rest of his life in prison.
GLENDALE, Calif. - A man accused of killing 11 people by parking his truck in a train’s path intended to get his estranged wife’s attention by causing “a horrific tragedy,” not to kill himself as originally thought, police said.
Authorities also said Juan Manuel Alvarez told them he had poured gasoline on the SUV before the Metrolink struck it Jan. 26 as it carried commuters to downtown Los Angeles.
Police initially believed Alvarez had meant to remain in the truck but then lost his nerve and fled. He and his wife, Carmelita Alvarez, had separated, and she had obtained a restraining order against him, police said.
Police Chief Randy Adams said Alvarez may have considered suicide, but “the investigation has revealed that his actions are not consistent with that of an individual who is attempting to follow through with that act.”
“His actions were deliberate with the intent of causing a horrific tragedy,” Adams told reporters Thursday.
Alvarez, 25, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 11 counts of murder and an arson charge. Prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
Defense attorney Eric Chase said the police statements were “not only vicious and callous but are a reckless distortion of the facts.”
“If they want to make this case about, as they say, Juan Alvarez’s intent to cause a horrific tragedy, I hope they can back it up. Apparently the Glendale police have not seen enough blood and are hungry for more,” Chase said in a statement.
Authorities, who had previously released few details abo